Get your mind out of the gutter Miss Hillyard, I'm referring to eating ;)
I've just had a really nice lunch with Fran in our garden and noticed something as we ate.
We picked up an eating habit last week while we were in France on holiday - we were actually chewing our food.
I guilty of rushing
meal times because there is always something more important to do, I literally shovel a meal in to my mouth thinking about what I have to do next. If I grab a wrap from the supermarket to eat on my way somewhere, it very rarely makes it to the car, I bite and swallow.
It's something I see lots of people doing, particularly when out for meals. Not taking anytime to chew the food (which is a major part of digestion) and actually savour the tastes and
flavours of their meal.
I have written many times before about the importance of living life and our ability to experience and enjoy food in a social environment is one of the main differences between us and animals.
In the region of France we were staying, their is much more importance placed on the experience of
eating. We didn't see anywhere that you could actually get a take away coffee, if you want a coffee you sit down and wait for them to make it and then take your time to enjoy it and watch the World go by. If you're in a rush, have a smaller coffee, yet nobody seemed to be in a rush.
As a result, we actually had conversations while waiting. When we had a sandwich, we had to chew it because of the type of bread. It took time to eat
and we could feel our jaw muscles actually working, not like the pap that dissolves in your mouth to save time here.
A strong jaw has an impact on your overall health and posture, more on that in another email.
Moving forwards I'm going to commit to sitting at the table for mealtimes rather than a tray on my lap in front of the TV. I'm going to make my car a no food zone, if I'm out and about all day and need to grab
something, I'm going to pull over to eat it and enjoy it rather than mindlessly shovelling it and swallowing it as I drive along.
Join me, plan meal times to actually eat rather than multi-task; let me know how you get on.
Darren "chewy" Checkley